Theaterdecor met een arena 1854 - 1858

Eugène Cicéri made this print of a theater set with lithography sometime in the 19th century. The image offers us a glimpse into the world of French theatrical design and its engagement with colonial fantasies. Cicéri's arena evokes a generic "Orient," adorned with ornate columns and vaguely Mughal architectural elements. Consider the surge in Orientalism in French popular culture and the rise of colonialism during this period. The theater, as a public institution, played a role in shaping and disseminating these perceptions. Stage design wasn't just about aesthetics; it was about constructing a vision of the world. To truly understand this image, we might turn to theater archives and production records, as well as studies of French colonial history and the rise of Orientalism in popular culture. The visual codes, cultural references, and historical associations embedded within this print reveal much about the social and institutional context of its time.